Just 18 months old and a little guy from Dalton, Georgia, is going viral. Young Lucas Warren has been named Gerber’s “Spokesbaby of the Year,” beating out more than 140,000 other baby applicants. Lucas is the first baby with Down Syndrome to be chosen.

As a life advocate, Lucas’ infectious smile is particularly endearing. If his family had lived in another country, Lucas would most certainly have been aborted. Gerber’s recognition of little Lucas gives me hope that perhaps the tide really is turning away from America’s culture of death to a culture where all life is valued. Sadly, though, I have to step back and question my own statement when legislation like the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (a United States Congress bill to ban late-term abortions nationwide after 20 weeks post-fertilization on the basis that the fetus is capable of feeling pain during an abortion at and after 20 weeks to point of birth) failed to pass Senate vote a few weeks ago. Are our representatives doing the right thing or merely being political?

Abortion is touted as being safe and rare, however, a medical abortion is one of the most common medical procedures performed in this country with close to a million (reported) performed each year. I have lots of questions why America has permitted a law to remain on the books for so long. When it was passed in 1973, scientific facts were not available. Now, science has confirmed that life begins at conception. When will we appeal the law bringing scientific evidence in front of justices? Why isn’t an abortion procedure the patient is about to experience explained, in detail, to the patient? Information on every other medical procedure is available to patients to allow a person to make a fully informed decision. If every legislator, judge, student and citizen learned how an abortion is performed and the potential dangers, the laws would change quickly. For those states which require a patient to view a sonogram of their baby, a majority will choose life over abortion (80% of patients will choose life after seeing their baby’s sonogram). Does your state require a sonogram to be viewed before an abortion decision is made?

Think carefully — I bet you have questions, too. Become familiar with federal and state pro-life legislative efforts. With elections just around the corner, a representative’s position on life issues is of critical importance. Remember, those who don’t value life can just as easily never be voted in and be voted out of office.

I live in the piney woods of East Texas. Huge pine trees, over 100 feet in height, surround our home. The sound of the wind moving through the treetops is both soothing and therapeutic. But it wasn’t therapeutic when I heard a loud crash.

I ran out the front door to find part of one of those 100 foot pines covering the road and part of our yard. The other half was teetering precariously against another tall tree. That’s when I started praying for the wind to stop.

Thankfully, several men (husband included) removed the fallen limb and brought down the remaining failed tree. They looked pretty proud of themselves as I called them my Paul Bunyan’s. Fortunately, we got a new fence out of the mishap.

Afterward I looked at the trunk of that fallen tree. It showed signs of rot, disease and dehydration. Although I didn’t see the roots, I would bet they weren’t very long. As I walked back home I remembered what my Sunday School teacher told me once — the strongest trees have the deepest roots, and those roots are often taller than the trees themselves.

In the Bible, godly people are often compared to trees. Joni Eareckson Tada wrote: “The branches of growing trees not only reach higher, but their roots grow deeper. It’s impossible for a strong tree to have high branches without having deep roots. It would become top-heavy and topple over in the wind.” Joni went on to say: “The same is true with Christians. It’s impossible for us to grow in the Lord without entwining our roots around His Word and deepening our life in His commands.”

I want to be a tall, immovable tree – able to withstand the storms of life. That comes through daily Bible study, discipline, and tested faith—conditions that produce deep roots.

What do you think?

Jeremiah 17:8 ““For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.”

A famous quotation of Albert Einstein says: “The world is too dangerous to live in-not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen.” I think you’ll agree there is plenty of evil in the world for all of us. Pick a topic, a country, a people, and you will find evil.

But the important question is, if we agree there is evil, what can we do about it? Is God calling you to prevent evil, to be a light in a dark world, to be salt to preserve truth?

Everyday horrific events occur around the world. When tragedy strikes, we turn to God for strength, understanding and hope. I know personally how hard it seems so as not to allow the darkness of this world, however evil and sinister it may be, to stop me from seeing the God’s light, goodness and mercy, in the world. Far beyond the evil, there remains hope. Hope for those who are in critical condition, who need healing and consolation, who want peace, but also for those who want revenge and retaliation.

Are you being called to prevent evil? What hope are you being asked to provide — to the hurting, hungry, haggard, homeless – to the abused and angry amongst us? There’s much work to do and the time to respond to a calling is now.

James 4:17 “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

When I was little I remember listening to the radio (a lot), being a middle-class family, and probably because television was such a “new” media and unaffordable to most people. My parents particularly liked a show called The Rest of the Story, hosted by Paul Harvey. Paul Harvey’s show consisted of stories presented as little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects with some key element of the story (usually the name of some well-known person) held back until the end. The broadcasts always concluded with a variation on the tag line “And now you know the rest of the story.”

This week I learned “the rest of the story” about Rachel Denhollander, an Olympic gymnast among 150 other young gymnasts who were victimized and sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar. It’s been all over the news, but it was Rachel’s testimony, addressing Larry directly, that caught my eye. Rachel was the first to file a complaint against Nassar and the last to speak in court. What she said has now gone viral. Let me share excerpts of her testimony shortly before Nassar was sentenced:

Your Honor, Larry is a hardened and determined sexual predator. I know this first-hand. At age 15, when I suffered from chronic back pain, Larry sexually assaulted me repeatedly under the guise of medical treatment for nearly a year. He did this with my own mother in the room, carefully and perfectly obstructing her view so she would not know what he was doing. His ability to gain my trust and the trust of my parents, his grooming and carefully calculated brazen sexual assault was the result of deliberate, premeditated, intentional and methodological patterns of abuse — patterns that were rehearsed long before I walked through Larry’s exam room door and which continue to be perpetrated I believe on a daily basis for 16 more years, until I filed the police report.

Larry, I want you to understand why I made this choice knowing full well what it was going to cost to get here and with very little hope of ever succeeding. I did it because it was right. No matter the cost, it was right. And the farthest I can run from what you have become is to daily choose what is right instead of what I want.

In our early hearings, you brought your Bible into the courtroom and you have spoken of praying for forgiveness. And so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you have read the Bible you carry, you know the definition of sacrificial love portrayed is of God himself loving so sacrificially that he gave up everything to pay a penalty for the sin he did not commit. By his grace, I, too, choose to love this way.

You spoke of praying for forgiveness. But Larry, if you have read the Bible you carry, you know forgiveness does not come from doing good things, as if good deeds can erase what you have done. It comes from repentance which requires facing and acknowledging the truth about what you have done in all of its utter depravity and horror without mitigation, without excuse, without acting as if good deeds can erase what you have seen this courtroom today.

The Bible you carry says it is better for a stone to be thrown around your neck and you thrown into a lake than for you to make even one child stumble. And you have damaged hundreds.

The Bible you speak of carries a final judgment where all of God’s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.

I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.

Rachel went on to address the court in her appeals for justice for the victims and in an attempt to change culture where crimes like Nassar perpetrated will not happen again.

And, as Paul Harvey would say, this is the rest of the story …

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

The Book of James is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is jam-packed with life lessons. I was studying Chapter 4 and re-read verse 17: “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” I just knew I had to use this verse for a blog post. Then the oddest thing happened. I read Jim Denison’s (Denison Forum on Truth and Culture) post of January 26, which, believe it or not, cited the very same verse. This was certainly no coincidence.

Slavery is an abomination and horrendous. The business of slavery was legal in the United States until Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. However, in 1808, the US outlawed the importation of slaves into this country. Then in 1859, Timothy Meaher, a wealthy Southern plantation and shipyard owner made a $100,000 bet, wagering he could successfully deliver an illegal shipload of slaves into the harbor of Mobile, Alabama. To make sure he won the bet, Meaher spent another $50,000 to construct a slave ship that did not look like other slave ships. He named the ship Clotilda, and was designed to be sleek and fast, with a hull built to hold one hundred slaves. To manage his voyage, Meaher hired Captain William Foster, considered to be the best sailboat captain on the Gulf Coast. So in 1860, Foster set out for Africa to bring back a load of illegal slaves.

Upon reaching the west coast of Africa, 110 members of a tribe were bought by Captain Foster for $100 each. Although the Clotilda was designed to transport one hundred people, the captain assumed 10 percent would not survive the voyage. Dr. Foster miscalculated — all survived ranging in age from five to twenty-three. On the night of July 8, 1860, the Clotilda began its entrance into Mobile Bay. Learning of the shipment in advance, Federal authorities were waiting for them, so Foster offloaded the slaves onto a riverboat and sent them ashore. Foster needed to destroy evidence of the voyage, so he set fire to the Clotilda and sank it in the middle of the Mobile Bay. Despite investigations, the loss of the ship and the human cargo it held meant that Timothy Meaher and Captain Foster were never convicted.

The legend of America’s last slave ship was passed down from generation to generation among the slaves it transported to their descendants, but no proof of the ship existed. Recently, however, an environmental reporter named Ben Raines began searching for its remains. During unusually low tides, Ben found a submerged wreck. It lies where Captain Foster said he sunk the ship, its construction matches the time period, and it appears to have been burnt. While more tests and investigation is required to conclusively identify the vessel, the evidence thus far is “very compelling.”

Descendants of the slaves transported on the Clotilda were grateful for the discovery. It proves the history told to them throughout the years was not made up. The victims enslaved on Meaher’s plantation were emancipated in 1865. They joined other former slaves and began returning to the place where they were originally unloaded.

In 1866, they founded Africatown as the first town in America to be built by African slaves with laws designed to resemble the laws of an African tribe. They established what became the oldest public school to be accredited in Mobile County. The town produced baseball greats Billy Williams and Hank Aaron. Their community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

The story Dr. Denison related is gut-wrenching, not only because it deals with the abominable practice of slavery, but because the guilt of the crime extends far beyond Meaher and Foster. Who made the bet with Meaher? Who heard the bet but didn’t tell authorities? Who helped build the slave ship? Who helped Foster sail it to Africa and back? Who knew the story of the illegal slaves on Meaher’s plantation but didn’t intervene?

God says in James 4:17, “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Today we can’t help those victims enslaved centuries ago, but we can have an impact on the millions who are in slavery around the world and those enslaved in human trafficking. In every major city of America, there are hundreds of young boys and girls on the streets victims of human trafficking. There are hundreds of thousands illiterate, who live in poverty, homeless, and live without a meal.

You and I can’t help everyone, but that should not stop us from helping those we can. Are we being light in this dark world? Darkness can either be our fault or our opportunity.

I answered the phone and immediately heard my husband say, “I don’t know how it happened. I was driving no more than 5 miles an hour ….” My heart sank while visualizing every emergency imaginable. As it turns out, Scooter, our 3-month old Great Pyrenees puppy (which is 3 times the size of dogs his age) took a flying leap out of the back of the pickup.

You have to understand, Scooter has never jumped out of the back seat of the pickup, let alone the truck bed. He’s a very careful pup. While driving VERY slowly through the back pasture, hubby looked back in the bed to see Scooter put one paw on the side of the truck, then the other, all the while yelling, “Scooter don’t!” … then WHOOOOSH … Scotter landed about 4 feet and one somersault to the ground.

Scooter was hurt and whimpering, so we both rushed to the vet, who showed us the break and said surgery would take care of the problem. I think she was trying to make us feel better when she said this is a very common occurrence in the country. That didn’t help me … I was still boohooing my eyes out.

I can see how a puppy would be excited with the wind blowing in his face, thinking he’s invincible. As Scooter took his flying leap off the side of the truck he may have felt he was bungie jumping, only the bungie didn’t work.

I’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel that child-like exhilaration and to see the world through their eyes. Lord, let me see You like they do.

Matthew 18:3 “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

We snuck into church, late as usual, trying desperately not to attract attention to ourselves. As I was getting comfortable in my pew seat, I noticed the pastor was starting a new series on the Book of Ruth, one of only two women who have their own books. Being a self-proclaimed feminist (no, not the bashing/burning/brawling kind of yesteryear), but one who admires and encourages women to be all that God has created them to be – smart, caring, and nurturing.

The Old Testament describes Ruth as a young woman living in Moab and practiced a different faith than the Israelites. She married one of two sons of Naomi. Within several years, Naomi’s husband and both her sons passed away, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law alone. In those days women relied on family to care for them.

Soon Naomi realized she must go back to her home in Bethlehem where her family was. She told both her “daughters” to stay with their families. One daughter-in-law did just that. However, Ruth wouldn’t have it. She told Naomi, “Where you go, I will go … your people will be my people … and your God will be my God.” Ruth certainly could have stayed. No one would have blamed her, it was the logical choice. But Ruth never asked how she could get around this, she submitted willingly to be a part of her mother-in-law’s family. She didn’t become bitter and never looked for someone to blame. She exhibited self-sacrificial love, never thinking of herself first. Ruth was a woman of substance.

It’s ironic that this message was given this week, the Sanctity of Life week, commemorating the anniversary of the passage of Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion on demand. Many of you know my story – once a staunch advocate for abortion, and now without apology a life advocate. As I watched hundreds of thousands march in our nation’s capital this past weekend, I was so very proud for their stand for life in an effort to stop abortion that has taken more than 60 million babies’ lives. How I wished I could have been there as in years past … perhaps another season.

The pro-life movement was built on the hard work of many women who took a stand against great odds when women, for the most part, remained silent without a voice: Mattie Brinkerhoff, Victoria Woodhull, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charlotte Lozier, are just a few of the many women who supported women in all aspects of their life. Read more about these brave women staunchly opposed to abortion.

Over the years there have been many women of substance who started a movement to right wrongs in our society. As I learn more about Ruth, and other great women of the Bible, I hope to observe more parallels of these women of substance.

Ruth 1:16 “Don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you, where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”

Jack lived on the streets, homeless, for over 20 years. He was certified insane in three states. He traveled all over the Southeast — Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Texas.

Jack grew up not wanted by his parents. His father died when he was four and his mother remarried to a very brutal, violent man. Jack’s step-father beat young Jack often, filling him with fear and anger. He quickly learned how to hate completely.

When Jack was 15, he was introduced to beer. He fell in love with the way it made him feel – strong and invincible. So young Jack placed his hope in alcohol. He couldn’t keep a job because of his drinking. He was finally committed to a mental hospital where he was introduced to drugs. He grew depressed and psychotic, so he began mixing alcohol with drugs.

Although Jack believed in God, he hated Him because Jack thought God intentionally made him the way he was. He hated everyone and everything. In Jack’s mind, he was convinced that God didn’t love him.

He was penniless, living on the streets, eating out of garbage cans, and in and out of jail for years. Some considered Jack a hopeless drunk. Then someone crossed his path and introduced him to Jesus. This older man took Jack under his wing and exhibited love and care and Jack soon learned just how much he was loved. He stood on the promise of 1 Samuel 10 – “You’re going to be changed into another man.”

As Jack’s faith grew, he got off the streets, started working consistently, stopped drinking, and started ministering to others. He met a wonderful woman, married, and they continued ministering to anyone who would listen about God and His love for us. Jack Hollingsworth and his wife preached and ministered nationwide until his death in 2017.

Now let me switch gears.

I recently started a new Bible study entitled “The Quest” (an excursion toward intimacy with God). Throughout scripture there are five questions God asks His people: (1) Where are you; (2) Who told you that; (3) What are you seeking; (4) Why are you afraid; and (5) How much more …

As I read Jack’s story I saw where Jack (1) didn’t know where he was, (2) was listening to the wrong people, (3) sought love and acceptance, (4) didn’t know anything but fear, and (5) didn’t understand how much more God can love him. You may know someone who needs to hear these questions. There have been many points in my life where I needed to hear them or be reminded of them. These are questions that demand an answer.

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I’ve been cleaning this week (oh stop it — before you start laughing, I really do know how to clean). Since the temps have been so frigid, I’ve had time to continue working on all the pictures we have … enough to fill warehouses!

As I uncovered and began placing pictures of my parents, my heart ached as my eyes filled with tears. My parents, known affectionately as Meemaw and Pops, have been in Heaven since 1993 and 1994. Oh, how I miss them! I’d give anything to sit and listen to their stories one more time … hear their words of encouragement … hear their dry sense of humor. I’d love to ask Mom one more time how to cook her “specials.” I’d love to see my Dad piddling out in the yard. I had a big boo-hoo session!

As the Tozer Alliance so aptly states: “I think it is typical of us that we take our days for granted. We say at the start of each year, ‘This may be the last,’ and resolve to amend our lives; but before many days have passed we forget our resolutions and grow bold and arrogant again, deceived by the apparent prodigality with which our days are given to us, heaped up, shaken together and running over. But all things have an end. The pitcher goes once too often to the well; the old tree braves one too many storms and comes down with a great crash upon the hill; the strongest heart weakens at last and sputters to a stop.”

I am so grateful God blessed me with loving parents and I’ve been guilty of wasting time and not telling people how much they mean to me. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Each year is a gift of grace and each day an unearned bonus. So please don’t make the mistake of frittering away time … live each day as if it were your last.

Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Every day — day in and day out — incidents of domestic violence/abuse appear in our newspapers and televisions. I’ve heard people say, “that could never happen here,” and then it does. No community is immune to abuse and resulting long-lasting effects of domestic violence. The National Coalition on Domestic Violence states that on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States, which equates to more than 10 million women and men. One in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical violence in varying degrees by an intimate partner within their lifetime.

I am fortunate to be involved with a non-profit serving six counties that addresses this problem head-on. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. It can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Domestic violence affects people of every socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels and occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships and can happen to intimate partners who are married, living together, or dating. Bullying and cyberstalking are now part of the equation.

This abuse not only affects the victims, but also has a substantial effect on family members, friends, co-workers, other witnesses, and the community at large. Children, who grow up witnessing domestic violence, are among those seriously affected by this crime. Frequent exposure to violence in the home not only predisposes children to numerous social and physical problems, but also teaches them that violence is a normal way of life. Its tendency to be passed down over generations makes it ever more important to address the problem immediately.

Most victims feel there is no hope, but they are wrong. Shelters providing safe harbor for themselves and their children, programs to provide needed funds to pay bills and medical costs, and, more specifically, counseling to teach needed skills to cope and regain emotional and mental health, are just a few of the services provided in cities and counties.

Join me in taking action, by educating ourselves and the next generation to thwart this epidemic. I’m a firm believer that each person can make a difference in this world, one person at a time.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” (quote attributed to Anne Frank)

Scooter, our new puppy, had his first obedience class last week. Hubby and I had our noses glued to the back door in utter amazement that Scooter was responding so well and so quickly to the trainer. “Why doesn’t he do that for us?” we thought, “after all, we feed him.”

Our Scooter was an “A” student for sure, however brief a period it was. We learned a lot about behavior that day and were reminded to take baby steps for commands to work. Now we practice every day … several times a day … and the obedience training is working for us, too.

Over the years I’ve had a lot of obedience lessons … school, church, and especially life. As much as I hate to admit it, obedience is a lesson that we all must, sometimes reluctantly, learn over and over again.

Oswald Chambers wrote: “The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says …. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.”

I’ve been reminded with these classes that when we are obedient, we show God that we love Him and have more faith in Him than we do in ourselves. To obey God means to relinquish what we want and to choose to do what He asks.

I love stories – true, inspiring accounts of how people overcome adversity. Well, this week I read one humdinger of a story.

This week Greg Laurie of Harvest Ministries recited the story of Melissa Jenkins. On December 1, 1997, about a dozen students were gathered together for their daily prayer meeting at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky. As they closed the prayer, a 14-year-old boy burst in and opened fire on the group. Three of the students died, while five others were seriously wounded. The irony of the situation was that a number of these students had actually befriended this young man.

But in the midst of the tragedy, an amazing, unexplainable story emerged. As 15-year-old Melissa Jenkins lay in the hospital, doctors informed her that she most likely would be a paraplegic for the rest of her life. To a teenager who has their whole life in front of them, this can be devastating. But Melissa had other thoughts at that moment – she wanted to convey a message to the teenage boy who shot her.

Most would expect a message of hate, anger and resentment. Instead, Melissa told the boy who shot her that she forgave him. Only a Christian can do something like that. This is not a natural act in our humanity, but supernatural. That is one of the amazing things about Christians: they have the capacity to forgive people. That’s why forgiveness is unexplainable to so many.

We all, just like Melissa Jenkins—need to learn how to forgive. Scripture talks a lot about it. To say that you are a Christian, but that you refuse to forgive, is a contradiction in terms.

That’s what I like about stories like this … if Melissa can forgive in a situation like this, perhaps there’s hope for me.

Matthew 6:12 “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”